to the republican proposal this afternoon on the fiscal cliff negotiations. what has the white house reaction been? >> reporter: as you know, the republican plan calls for about $800 billion in new tax revenues by basically reforming the tax code but it doesn't cover increasing taxes on the wealthiest americans and that is something that president obama says must be included in any plan, so white house communications director dan pfeifer just released this statement. i'm just getting it. quaet quote, the republican letter does not meet the test for balance. it sticks the middle class with the bill. their plan includes nothing new and provides no details on which deductions they would eliminate. independent analysts who have looked at plans like this one have concluded middle class taxes will have to go up to pay for lower rates for millionaires and billionaires. while the president is willing to compromise to get a significant balanced deal and believes compromise is available, he's not willing to compromise on the principles of fairness and balance that incl